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The Electoral Commission of South Australia logo
  • Enrolment
    • About enrolment
    • About the electoral roll
    • Check my enrolment
    • Council voters roll
    • Enrolment statistics
    • Removal from electoral roll
    • Special enrolment options
    • Update my details
    • Voter alerts
  • Voting
    • Easy read guides
    • Failure to vote
    • How to complete your ballot papers
    • How-to-vote cards
    • Postal voting
    • Voting in council elections
    • Voting in parliamentary- elections
  • Elections
    • Ask us to run your election
    • Counting votes
    • Current council elections
    • Past council elections
    • Past parliamentary elections
    • Other elections, polls and referenda
    • First Nations Voice to Parliament
  • Parties and candidates
    • Electoral Funding and Donations Reform
    • Council candidates
    • Council elections - candidate returns
    • Council elections - electoral advertising
    • House of Assembly candidates
    • Legislative Council candidates
    • State elections - electoral advertising
    • Register of political parties
    • Register a political party - How to
    • Agents
    • Associated entities
    • Forms
    • Glossary
    • Public inspection
    • Special assistance funding
  • Electoral districts
    • APY electorates
    • Council boundaries
    • First Nations Voice regions
    • Interactive map
    • State electoral boundaries
    • State electoral downloadable maps
    • State electoral district profiles
    • Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission
  • Enrolment
    • About enrolment
    • About the electoral roll
    • Check my enrolment
    • Council voters roll
    • Enrolment statistics
    • Removal from electoral roll
    • Special enrolment options
    • Update my details
    • Voter alerts
  • Voting
    • Easy read guides
    • Failure to vote
    • How to complete your ballot papers
    • How-to-vote cards
    • Postal voting
    • Voting in council elections
    • Voting in parliamentary- elections
  • Elections
    • Ask us to run your election
    • Counting votes
    • Current council elections
    • Past council elections
    • Past parliamentary elections
    • Other elections, polls and referenda
    • First Nations Voice to Parliament
  • Parties and candidates
    • Electoral Funding and Donations Reform
    • Council candidates
    • Council elections - candidate returns
    • Council elections - electoral advertising
    • House of Assembly candidates
    • Legislative Council candidates
    • State elections - electoral advertising
    • Register of political parties
    • Register a political party - How to
    • Agents
    • Associated entities
    • Forms
    • Glossary
    • Public inspection
    • Special assistance funding
  • Electoral districts
    • APY electorates
    • Council boundaries
    • First Nations Voice regions
    • Interactive map
    • State electoral boundaries
    • State electoral downloadable maps
    • State electoral district profiles
    • Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission

What we do

The Electoral Commission SA is legislatively responsible for:

  • conducting and administering elections,
  • ensuring electors are enrolled to vote,
  • registering political parties, and
  • maintaining the electoral roll in conjunction with the Australian Electoral Commission.


The Electoral Commission SA's main functions are to conduct:

  • State and Council elections every four years, including House of Assembly by-elections and council supplementary elections,
  • to provide community awareness programs on the electoral system, and,
  • to conduct elections for statutory authorities such as the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Executive Board, Super SA, Super SA Select, Funds SA, the Architectural Practice Board of South Australia, and the South Eastern Water Conservation and Drainage Board.

In addition the Electoral Commission SA also conducts fee-for-service elections and ballots for other organisations that require the appointment of an independent Returning Officer. These elections are generally conducted by post and include the election of office bearers to committees and boards and also the conduct of enterprise agreement ballots.

The Electoral Commission SA conducts the entire election process in accordance with the organisation's constitution and/or election rules. Where the election rules are deficient, the Electoral Commission SA may provide advice on established electoral practices and processes, such as:

  • provision of a list of eligible voters,
  • nominations,
  • methods of voting,
  • informality,and
  • counting procedures.


To conduct an election or ballot, the organisation must provide the Electoral Commission SA a certified list of eligible voters.

For further information visit our Publications page.

Research Paper copyright

Creative Commons Licence

Creative Commons Licence

Trends and Issues Papers, Briefing Papers and Electoral Backgrounder Papers produced by ECSA are released under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence.

By using this Creative Commons licence, you are free to share - to copy, distribute and transmit the work under the following conditions: 

  • Attribution - You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
  • Non-Commercial - You may not use this work for commercial purposes without our permission.
  • No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work without our permission.

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Electoral Commission South Australia


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ELECTORAL COMMISSION SA
Level 6, 60 Light Square
Adelaide SA 5000

GPO Box 646
Adelaide SA 5001

Email: enquiry form

1300 655 232
(within SA only)

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